InstallShield

Some Windows Installer databases that Macrovision InstallShield (http://www.acresso.com /products/is/installshield-overview.htm) creates require that you install them by running Setup. exe. Trying to install the .msi file using Msiexec.exe results in a message that you must run Setup. exe to start the installation. When the developer uses InstallShield Script, this requirement is enforced to ensure that the needed version of the InstallShield Script Engine (ISScript.msi) is installed on the computer before proceeding. If it is not detected, the required version of InstallShield Script Engine is installed automatically before starting Windows Installer. You can automate this installation a couple of ways:

• Use InstallShield's command-line support that Setup.exe offers. Not only does Setup.exe provide command-line option support, but you may also pass options to the Windows Installer setup database by using the /v command-line option. Following /v, you may specify any options you want to pass to the Windows Installer setup database within double quotation marks. For example, the following command installs the application silently and passes the /qn option.
  setup.exe /s /v"/qn"
• Deploy the InstallShield Script Engine separately as part of your core applications before any setup files that require it. You may then safely bypass running Setup.exe by installing the Windows Installer setup database with Msiexec.exe and including the ISSETUPDRIVEN public property. You can extract the embedded Windows Installer setup database by looking in the %Temp% folder after the welcome message for the installation wizard is displayed. Then, use the following command to install it.
  msiexec.exe /i setup.msi ISSETUPDRIVEN=1 /qn

Legacy InstallShield

Packages created using legacy InstallShield technologies usually have the file name Setup.exe. To create an unattended installation for a legacy InstallShield package, you need to create an InstallShield script, which has the .iss file extension. Many applications come with such a file, but they are also easy to create.

To create an InstallShield response file, perform the following steps:

1. Run the setup program using the /r command-line option. This creates a Setup.iss file based on how you configure the installation as you step through the setup program.
   The result is the file Setup.iss in %SystemRoot%.
2. Copy Setup.iss from %SystemRoot% to the folder containing the package.
3. Run the setup program using the /s command-line option. The setup program runs silently using the responses provided by the Setup.iss file.

Important Packages created by InstallShield will spawn a separate process and then return immediately to the calling program. This means that the setup program runs asynchronously, even if you start the setup program using start /wait. You can add the /sms command-line option to force the setup program to pause until installation is finished, however, making the process synchronous.